


Spark

by possumcuddles_627



Category: Glee
Genre: Friendship/Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29538867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possumcuddles_627/pseuds/possumcuddles_627
Summary: Sebastian gets a text from Blaine in the middle of the night asking if he's still in Ohio. Blaine needs a friend, and Sebastian steps in to help pick up the pieces and put him back together.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

_Are you still in Ohio? -B_

Sebastian had to take his glasses off to check that the name on his screen wasn’t just wishful thinking. Blaine Anderson was really texting him at… what time was it? A little after two in the morning? That couldn’t be right. He was surprised Blaine still had his number. 

_Unfortunately. It’s late. Is everything okay? -S_

He didn’t want to come off as an asshole, but it was so out of character from the Blaine he used to know. The reply came back almost immediately. 

_Yeah, I guess. I just miss you. -B_

Sebastian was a little taken aback and didn’t know how to respond. He felt his heart contract. Something was wrong. For the boy who pretended to not even be interested in being his friend, getting an “I miss you” meant something big. 

_Are you okay? -S_

He didn’t really want to ask because he knew the answer, but something was on Blaine’s mind. He was on Blaine’s mind, and at this time of night, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know why. There was no response back, which kept Sebastian even more on edge. He waited a few minutes before locking his phone and putting it on the bed next to him. He was supposed to be studying, but his brain had turned off about an hour ago. Still, his eyes poured over paragraph after paragraph of text in hopes that he’d remember something when it came to test time.  
It wasn’t until he opened his eyes the next morning that he realized he’d missed a message from Blaine. He mentally cursed himself for not hearing it; he didn’t want Blaine to think that he didn’t care. He immediately unlocked his phone to reply. 

_Not really. Kind of? I don’t know. I need to come back to Ohio and I’m not very happy about it. -B_

Blaine didn’t want to have to text Sebastian of all people, the guy who’d hated his relationship and everything about it, who spent the better part of a year trying to break them up. He didn’t want to tell Sebastian that he was right. But all of his other friends were gone, had left Ohio for bigger and better things, and Blaine didn’t want to go back if he didn’t have at least one person who could give him some sanity. His parents certainly wouldn’t. As he looked at the now-empty apartment, he knew he couldn’t stay. His clothes were too small in the closet, and the other side of the bed was too cold without someone else in it. Kurt had been gracious enough to leave him with the apartment until the end of the month until he found somewhere else to go, but the end of the month was fast approaching and he’d been too out of it to make any real plans. So, in an effort to not be homeless, he’d figured the best place to be was with family, who would be overjoyed that he and Kurt weren’t an item anymore and they could go back to trying to set him up with whoever’s friend’s daughter was available. But at the very least, he had Sebastian, who would at least most likely compliment him on every occasion.  


He did miss that – the flirting. Kurt had gotten to the point where he would rarely flirt with him, rarely make him feel like he was still choosing to be with him every single day. They’d gotten complacent with each other in addition to now living together, which made them fight. All the time. Blaine had grown tired of it very quickly, but he was a fighter, and he wasn’t going to give up the best thing that had ever happened to him like that. They were planning to get married, and even though all the fighting, Blaine was still researching and calling venues and caterers and bakeries; maybe he hoped that a good wedding would stave off the hostility for a little bit, that something new and exciting would break the tension and they would realize that their fighting was a waste of time. Then Kurt dropped the bomb and Blaine’s heart shattered. He didn’t know if he even wanted to marry Blaine anymore. And then he left, just like that. Left Blaine in an empty apartment with no real direction as to where he was going to go or what he was going to do. He’d failed out of school because he didn’t show up to classes out of sheer depression, and now he didn’t even have that. No job, no work ethic, and he was about to not have a home.  


But he had Sebastian to look forward to, at least, maybe. That is, if Sebastian would even want to talk to him. Their last interaction had involved Blaine asking Sebastian to be a part of his proposal to Kurt, even though Blaine was very aware of the feelings or crush, at least, Sebastian had for him. He knew that was an asshole move on his part, but Sebastian was kind of a friend, an important part of his life, anyway, as part of the Warblers, and he'd wanted him to be there. He hadn't been paying attention to Sebastian, but if he had, he would have seen the heartbreak in his eyes when Kurt said yes.  


Sebastian had gotten over Blaine pretty easily once he had moved to New York. Out of sight, out of mind, and he was glad he didn't have to deal with Kurt anymore. He saw Blaine's posts on social media and talked to him every once in a while, but it was never anything serious; once Kurt found out they were talking, he'd quickly put a stop to it. Kurt never trusted him, and he had every reason not to since Sebastian would flirt with Blaine every chance he got to make sure that Blaine knew there were other options, someone else interested in him. And Blaine had almost taken the bait, but then there was the slushy issue.  


Sebastian thought that if he could take Kurt's pride down a little bit, he'd give in and realize how wrong he was treating Blaine. He'd swear up and down until the day he died that it was meant for Kurt, because it was. And not for him, just his clothes. He wanted to show Kurt that Sebastian wasn't someone to mess with. But Blaine, ever-chivalrous Blaine, had jumped in front of Kurt to protect his clothes and the rock salt Sebastian had poured in to set that deep red stain into Kurt's white jacket had gotten in Blaine's eye instead.  
He’d gone to the hospital to make sure Blaine was okay, but the flowers he’d left were anonymous in fear of Kurt realizing who they were from and tossing them out while Blaine was sleeping. He hated that Blaine couldn’t know how much he really cared about him and their friendship, even if it was fun to tease him. He couldn’t tell Blaine how much he actually wanted a relationship with him, but how could he? Blaine was in love with his “soulmate.” The word they threw around so casually made Sebastian nauseous. How could they be soulmates when Kurt constantly talked about himself and didn’t let Blaine have friends Kurt didn’t approve of? How can you “soulmate” not trust you? Sebastian didn’t believe in all that, but he played along and kept Blaine knowing he was interested. Blaine had a couple rocky times with Kurt, and there were multiple phone calls Sebastian got where he was positive Blaine was going to tell him they’d ended it, but he never expected a call from Blaine asking him to help to propose to Kurt. Propose. Marriage. Sebastian would never have a chance if Kurt said yes, as if he ever did in the first place. But Blaine was his friend, and when he gave him those damn puppy eyes, how could he say no?  


So Sebastian endured. All the rehearsals, all the talks, and he never said a word. Not even when Blaine asked the question and Kurt answered exactly how everyone thought he would: with a nod and tears as Blaine slid that ring onto his finger. It wasn’t just that Sebastian didn’t think it was a good idea because he had a thing for Blaine. They were too young to be getting engaged. Blaine hadn’t even really gotten out of high school yet; he couldn’t possibly know who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It certainly couldn’t be Kurt, who didn’t treat Blaine like Blaine treated him. He wasn’t even sure if Blaine had had a serious boyfriend before or if he was just latching onto the first guy who’d show him any interest. But it didn’t matter. What’s done was done and all Sebastian could do at that point was support his friend, even though his limbs felt heavy and he felt like Blaine was utterly untouchable.  


Sebastian had no idea what had been going on between them since they’d gotten engaged, but they’d been living together (and with Rachel, which could have been the root of their issues) and going to school together. Sebastian wasn’t an expert in relationships by any means, but he’d heard stories about people living together and working together - it almost never turned out well. So when he’d gotten this text from Blaine, he knew he’d been right. Not that he’d flaunt it, of course, but that small flicker of feelings for Blaine he’d tried to starve out seemed to come back to life with nothing to feed it but hope. Sebastian was screwed.

_Well, I’ll be here when you get back. I’m excited to see you again. I miss you too. -S_

Sebastian’s thumb hovered over the send button for what seemed like minutes before he finally pressed it, but he didn’t know why. Everything he said was the truth: he was excited to see Blaine again and he did miss him. Those were the kinds of things friends said to each other. It was a while before Blaine responded.

_Good. -B_

Good. Did that mean Blaine was excited to see Sebastian again, too? He couldn’t read too much into it, but he wasn’t sure what to say back. He looked at the clock and groaned. He really had to get back to studying. He had midterms coming up and he couldn’t afford any distractions like this right now. He put his phone back down on the bed and moved his eyes back to his work.


	2. Chapter 2

He was the first to text Blaine a few hours later when he woke up for class, completely ironically as he knew Blaine would be as tired as he was. 

_Good morning! -S_

_Back to texting me again so soon, huh? -B_

Sebastian didn’t know whether Blaine was being serious or not, but he could see him smiling as he was typing that out, so he figured that was a good sign. God, he missed Blaine’s smile. 

_Of course. Figured I’d take every chance I get. I have a test today, though, so I can’t get too distracted by you. -S_

_Well, that’s a shame. Good luck on your test! What’s it over? -B_

Sebastian was surprised at how quickly Blaine texted back, as if he didn’t have anything better to do, which, if Sebastian thought about it, he probably didn’t. Blaine was surprised to hear that Sebastian was studying law; he figured he’d be doing something with music since he was “way too talented not to,” which made Sebastian blush and roll his eyes, thankful that Blaine couldn’t see him. Blaine wished him good luck again when he had to go to class, and although he had trouble not thinking about Blaine, he felt he did well. 

Blaine hated that he was looking forward to Sebastian texting him once he got out of class, but he was so glad he could have a distraction from packing. He was leaving in two days and still barely had anything done, but he couldn’t bring himself to actually put anything in boxes in fear that it would make things too real. But he needed to get things done, and Sebastian also reminded him of that later that night when Blaine admitted how little he’d done.

_It’s not going to make it any easier if you put it off. -S_

Blaine felt like a child being reprimanded, but he knew Sebastian was right.

_I know. I just… it’s so surreal. Everything is so surreal. I don’t want to think about it. -B_

_Believe me, I’d help you if I could. -S_

_I know you would. But it’s my stuff. I have to do it. -B_

_Don’t think of it as a step backwards. There’s a reason for everything; I know you believe that. Maybe this will be good for both of you and Kurt will realize how much he misses you and how much you really meant to him. “Don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” kind of thing. -S_

Blaine couldn’t help but try to believe that. Of course that’s what was going to happen. This was just a little move Blaine had to do in order to be able to spend more time with his family and friends while Kurt spent time realizing that Blaine was really his soulmate and that’s who he really wanted to be with. It still didn’t make packing any easier. He still had to uproot his whole life back to somewhere he hated.

_You better be right or you’ll have to deal with depressed me for a very long time. -B_

_I’d be honored to be with you when you need me. -S_

What could he say to that? Did Sebastian still have feelings for him? Was going to see him a bad idea? He didn’t seem to have any incentive to steal him or woo him; he’d just told him that Kurt was going to miss him, after all. Maybe he was just being a good friend, something Blaine had never really gotten the chance to experience with him. Even after all Blaine had done to him, Sebastian was still willing to step up to the plate. 

_I don’t deserve you. -B_

_I know. ;) -S_

Two days later, Blaine and a couple suitcases waited at the airport for Sebastian to come pick him up. He’d packed all the essentials and the rest of his entire life was coming by the end of the week (he hoped) in a storage pod that would soon be moved to a storage unit he’d picked out the day before. It was thankfully somewhere close, and he wasn’t sure how he’d be moving all his stuff, but he hoped most of it could just stay in his parents’ house with him so he’d have less to move. He was exhausted, sore, and very much ready for all of this to be over.

He spotted Sebastian immediately, considering he practically towered over the rest of the people wandering around, looking for whoever they were picking up. He subconsciously worried about his hair. Would Sebastian comment on the fact that he hadn’t gelled it that morning? It would have just gotten messed up on the flight, and he felt like he needed a shower after sitting next to the sweaty nervous man next to him for the past two hours.

“Seb!” he called out, raising an arm up for the other boy to see. Sebastian took a second to find where the voice was coming from, but once he did, the smile he gave Blaine made him feel strange things in his stomach. No one had smiled at him like that for a long time. The corners of his mouth almost reached his eyes, and Sebastian was in front of Blaine in what seemed like a matter of seconds.

“Hey, Killer,” Sebastian breathed, looking Blaine up and down before pulling him into a hug. Blaine nearly melted in Sebastian’s arms immediately, the first type of friendly contact he’d had in months. The warmth around him felt so good, and Blaine didn’t want to let go, but Sebastian pulled away to grab one of Blaine’s bags. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here so we can talk.” Blaine could only nod, but Sebastian’s hand on his back grounded him as he led them towards the exit.

Once they were outside in the fresh air, Blaine felt relieved. The air smelled clean, and it was so quiet. Maybe coming back here would be good for him; maybe a break from all the crazy city living was exactly what he needed. It wasn’t a long walk to the car, but Sebastian kept his hand on Blaine the whole time. Not in any way that Blaine felt uncomfortable or concerning, but he certainly hadn’t expected it. 

“How was your flight?” he asked after they’d loaded Blaine’s luggage into the car and pulled out of the pick-up area.

“Not too bad,” Blaine admitted with a shrug, looking down at his phone to take it out of airplane mode and let his parents know he’d made it off the plane. “I sat next to a man who nearly had an anxiety attack as soon as we got in the air and once he’d calmed down, he just kept sweating and muttering to himself.”

“So a normal plane ride?” Sebastian smirked. “Please tell me you at least got the window seat.”

Blaine nodded. “I did. That would have been horrible. I felt bad for the person on the other side of him, too.”

“My flights always end up like that. Whenever I go to Paris, there’s someone next to me who’s sick or snoring or taking up all the room,” Sebastian chuckled. “But that’s what you get when you fly with Americans.” Blaine was silent for a second, so Sebastian glanced over to find him shaking his head with a smile on his face. “What?”

“Do you forget that you don’t live in Paris?” he asked with a laugh.

“No, definitely not. I’m reminded every day. You just don’t like when I talk about it.”

Sebastian wasn’t wrong. “I just get jealous, that’s all, I guess. I’ve never met anyone else who casually flies to Europe for the summer. It just amazes me that people actually have lives like that while I’m here moving back to Ohio from my dream city and living with my parents again until I find out what the hell I’m going to be doing.”

“You do realize you’re talking to someone who never left the state for college, right?’

“And I dropped out.”

“But you left. Even for a brief time, you got out of here. Everyone left. I don’t know why the hell I decided to stay…”

“So you’d be here to pick me up when I came back?” Blaine asked, trying to lighten the mood a little. It worked, as Sebastian cracked a half-smirk. 

“That must be it. Otherwise I’d probably have never seen you again, and we can’t have that.”

Blaine found himself fighting a blush. That was the one thing he hated about Sebastian: he could never tell whether he was jokingly flirting with him or if he was really flirting with him. Either way, Blaine didn’t know how he felt about it. On one hand, it was comfortingly familiar, as if nothing had changed since he was back in high school and with Kurt and everything was great. On the other hand, he’d just gotten out of a relationship and he didn’t want Sebastian to think he could just swoop in and take him immediately. He didn’t want to give Sebastian the wrong idea, so he just rolled his eyes.

“That’s gonna get old eventually, you know,” Blaine sighed. 

“I know. But I figured you might need some cheering up. I can stop if you want… if you feel it’s… inappropriate.” Sebastian looked over at Blaine to gauge his reaction, but he wasn’t entirely sure he could judge how Blaine felt about the flirting. Maybe he did need to tone it down; it was just.. natural when he was with Blaine. He almost couldn’t help himself. Almost. Blaine’s silence seemed to be a good indicator. “I’m sorry.”

“What? No. Don’t be sorry. That’s just… how you talk to people,” Blaine laughed. “Or me, at least.”

Sebastian thought about it for a second. “You’re… you’re right. Yeah, that’s just how I talk to you,” he chuckled. He’d stopped flirting with every guy he laid eyes on for a while now, so feeling it come back so naturally when he was with Blaine was a little strange. “But I’ll back off if you want me to. I can’t imagine it’s... helping anything.”

Blaine sighed again and shrugged, looking down at his feet. “I don’t know. Nothing feels real right now. I just can’t… promise that I’ll respond with however you want me to.”

“I don’t expect you to respond in any certain way,” Sebastian promised. “I just… don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to make a move on you, that’s all.”

“Thank you,” Blaine said with a slight chuckle. “I appreciate that. I know you’re not. I mean, I don’t know that you’re not, but I’d like to hope that you’re a little better than that.”

“Believe me, Killer, please don’t take any offense to this, but the last thing I want to be is your rebound,” Sebastian explained.

Blaine wasn’t sure what to think. He couldn’t be offended, sure, because he didn’t want Sebastian as his rebound, but… why wouldn’t Sebastian want him? Was there something wrong with him? Was whatever it was why Kurt left too? He figured he was quiet for too long because Sebastian had started to talk again.

“I don’t want to be your rebound because I want to stay your friend, okay? Don’t read into it. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

Blaine let out a breathy laugh. “I… you… how do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Like.. know what I’m thinking or something? It’s creepy.”

Sebastian shrugged. “I know how you think, I guess. And you kind of wear your heart on your sleeve, you know. You’re not hard to figure out if you pay attention.”

Blaine was silent again. Was Sebastian right? If he was that easy to figure out, he shouldn’t have had to explain himself to Kurt so much. Kurt never knew when he was upset unless Blaine explicitly told him. His head smacked against the headrest. “Why is everyone else seeing this but me?”

“What? That you’re easy to read?”

“No, that… that Kurt just didn’t… he didn’t do that. He didn’t pay attention. That’s why I got so upset with him. He could never tell that I was upset with him. He never knew when I had a bad day or a great day or just…” He ran a hand through his hair. “And I just let it slide because I loved him and I loved talking about my day with him, so I just let him figure it out that way. And I just now realized how shitty that is.”

Sebastian just stared straight ahead, not really sure how to respond. “I’m sorry. You.. I mean, you deserve so much better than that, but I know you’ve heard that a thousand times, but please believe it. You deserve as much love for you as you have for everyone else. And I’m really, truly sorry he couldn’t give that to you. Not because I’m glad you guys broke up, but because I really wanted to see you truly happy.”

Blaine felt the pins and needles behind his eyes and he quickly feigned having something in his eyes so he could rub them with his t-shirt, but he wasn’t sure if Sebastian believed him or not. “You’re a really good friend, Sebastian. I’m sorry that we didn’t get to… that I didn’t realize that earlier.”

Sebastian just shrugged with one shoulder. “You didn’t really get the chance to. Besides, I wasn’t a good friend then, you know? I shouldn’t have flirted with you in front of Kurt. I should have respected your relationship, and I didn’t. And I’m sorry for that. I never meant to make you uncomfortable or cause problems between you two… you know that, right?”

“I didn’t, actually,” Blaine admitted. He wanted to - needed to - be as upfront with Sebastian as he could, considering he was the only person who’d be able to hear him out now. They needed to build that trust with each other. “I genuinely thought that you were trying to steal me from Kurt. That you were trying to break us up. That’s… kind of why I didn’t like you that much at first.”

“Ouch,” Sebastian teased, but nodded. “I know. I know I was an asshole, and I started teasing you because you’re so freaking cute when you blush, but then I saw how upset Kurt got and thought it was hilarious.”

Sebastian’s comment only made him blush, like he was sure the other boy wanted. “That’s not nice.”

“I never said it was. I’m just… telling you the truth. And about the slushie thing…”

“Stop,” Blaine interrupted. “I’m not mad about the slushie thing, for the last time. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. I know that. I’ve forgiven you.” Blaine’s hand reached over to rest on Sebastian’s leg, right above his knee, and Sebastian closed his eyes to enjoy it for a fraction of a second.

“Thank you,” he whispered as if he hadn’t heard it ten times already.

The rest of the drive was done in silence. Blaine placed his hand back in his lap and took the opportunity to scroll through his phone to let his friends know what was going on. Hehad to give Sebastian his address again since he’d only been over a couple times during high school for Warblers practice that Blaine would sometimes host when other clubs needed their room or if they just wanted a change of scenery. As they pulled into the driveway, Sebastian could feel Blaine’s heart drop into his feet. This was his home again now.

“Look, if you get tired of living here, you can always come stay with me for a little bit. Not indefinitely, but… if you need a weekend, I promise I won’t make it weird.”

Blaine couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of spending a whole weekend living with Sebastian. He never thought it would even be a possibility, but once they got to know each other a little more, it might be fun. And he knew he would get tired of living with his parents before he was able to find a place of his own.

“Do you have your own place?”

Sebastian nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got an apartment. It’s not the best, and it’s pretty far from school, but the bus runs almost right to it, so I just have to walk maybe a couple blocks to the bus stop? I hate driving to school, but mostly because there are so many other idiot kids that don’t pay attention to anyone else’s cars,” he laughed. “But enough about me. You’re welcome to come see it any time. Do you know if your parents are home?”

“Yeah, they should be,” Blaine explained, sending a quick text. “I’m surprised they’re not out here waiting for me.”

“Maybe they want to see how excited you are when you realize they’ve turned your old room into an office or something,” Sebastian teased.

“Shut up.” Blaine softly smacked him in the arm with the back of his hand. “I guess I have to go in eventually, huh?”

“Don’t sweat it, Killer, okay? I’ll stay to keep you company for a while if you want.”

“No, it’s okay. I think I have to do this on my own.”

Sebastian agreed to help Blaine with his bags up to the front door, and he greeted Blaine’s parents with a smile, a hug, a handshake, and the promise to see Blaine later before heading back to his own apartment, missing Blaine’s presence already. His apartment was too quiet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this week just got away from me! 
> 
> I wanted to take a second to thank everyone who's left kudos and kind reviews on this story! I haven't posted a fanfic in a while, so I'm glad you're enjoying it! I'm going to try to update regularly, but I have a couple fanfics, a job, a side job, and a novel on my plate right now, so bear with me! But I PROMISE I won't abandon this story!

It only took a few days for Blaine to have enough of his parents. “They don’t even get why I’m upset. They keep telling me that this is why I should have dated girls before,” he whined into the phone. “I’m over it, Seb. I can’t stay with them anymore.”

Sebastian sighed and looked at his watch. He only had fifteen minutes until class, so he couldn’t do anything until after that. “Okay, look. I’ll be home around four. I can try to pick you up on the way if you want to pack a bag for a few days. I’ll um… yeah, I’ll figure something out. You might have to sleep on the couch, though.”

“That’s fine,” Blaine replied, his voice tinted with relief. “Unless you start trying to get me into girls, then I’ll leave your place too.”

“Believe me, that’s not going to happen. Then I’d definitely never have a chance with you.” Sebastian could hear a breathy laugh on the other end of the line.

“I’ll see you later, Seb. Have fun in class.”

“Thanks, Killer.”

Sebastian was admittedly a little distracted in class. He just kept thinking about spending the night with Blaine, strictly platonically, but still. He thought about how Blaine clung to him like a lifeline at the airport and how he felt that Blaine was going to collapse if he stopped touching him. He thought about how Blaine fit so well in his arms when they hugged. It was almost frustrating; Sebastian had worked so hard to get over him. He'd tried to be with so many guys, tried to settle down, but as soon as Blaine was back (and now available), it was like he never left. But Sebastian didn't want a rebound. He didn't want a one night stand that Blaine would regret and then he'd never want to see Sebastian again. That's why he had to be careful with himself. To watch how much he flirted, how close they got. Blaine didn't want to be with him, and he couldn't read into anything. Blaine needed a friend right now, and that's what Sebastian was going to be. 

As soon as he was done for the day, he let Blaine know he was on the way to his house, and by the time he got there, Blaine and three duffel bags were sitting on the front steps. Sebastian pulled into the driveway with a slightly broken heart just seeing Blaine like that, looking so hopeless, but he had to be the strong one for him this time. He knew staying with him would be better than Blaine staying with his parents, as bad as that sounded and as awkward as things would be. Blaine wordlessly got into the car and loaded his bags into the back. Sebastian noticed he’d brought his guitar with him, too, which means he planned on staying for a while. Sebastian rubbed his face; he had no idea how this was going to work. “So… how was class?” Blaine asked once they’d been driving in silence for a few minutes.

“It was… good, actually. We didn’t get much homework, and I understood the little that we learned, so overall, yeah. Good. I’m glad we’re getting into upper level stuff and not just gen eds,” Sebastian explained with a shrug.

Blaine just nodded. “Thank you for… for letting me stay with you. I just… I couldn’t stay with my parents anymore, not after the things they said a-about Kurt and about me and-”

“I get it,” Sebastian interrupted. “Really. And of course you can stay with me. I told you that. Anytime.” He reached over and put a hand on Blaine’s knee, a gesture to which Blaine surprisingly returned. It was a quick touch of appreciation, but it was there. “I’ve got some extra blankets and stuff for the couch or we can stop by on the way and get you an air mattress if you’d prefer that.”

“I’ve already told you that the couch is fine,” Blaine smiled. 

“Yeah, but you can’t… stay on the couch forever,” Sebastian insisted. “How… how long do you plan on staying? I noticed you packed… a bit.”

Blaine opened his mouth to speak before closing it, thinking a little before he responded. “I don’t know. Not… a long time, obviously, since I don’t want to impose or anything and I know you have a life and can’t be with me all the time. But I don’t want to go back there for at least a few days. Maybe a week? I don’t know, I was hoping we could just kind of play it by ear.”

Sebastian let out a chuckle. “Yeah… I mean, I do have classes during the day, so I won’t be able to be home with you. You’ll be… on your own. But weekends, I’m usually free unless I’m studying or doing homework or figuring out how to get an internship, which I can start next semester.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Blaine said with a nod again. “I’ll figure out something to do during the day. That’s why I brought my guitar. I… I think I need a way to channel all this and… maybe writing songs or something will help,” he shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve barely touched it since… well, you know.” 

“I think that would be really good for you, you know? I mean, some of the best songs come from heartbreak,” he smirked.

Blaine just rolled his eyes playfully. “Yeah, they always say that, but that’s the last thing you want to do,” he said with a sad chuckle. “I don’t know, I’m torn between wallowing and wanting to… I don’t know, go out and find a guy and just…”

“Get under someone else?”

“Yeah,” Blaine admitted. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No and yes. I think… considering how… attached you tend to get with relationships, it wouldn’t be the best idea. Not that that’s a bad thing, of course. I would just hate for you to end up heartbroken over something that wasn’t intended to be long-term…” Sebastian replied, clearing his throat. “Then again, Kurt’s the only person you’ve been with, right?” Blaine gave him a shrug and a nod, which Sebastian wasn’t going to ask about. “So being with someone else might be good for you because then you’ll see that other people out there want you and this isn’t the end of the world. Who knows? You might realize that Kurt was really shitty in bed and someone will rock your world.”

That made Blaine laugh, which Sebastian was grateful for. “Not that I have anything to compare it to, nor do I really want to talk about sex with you, but I think he did just fine.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “I’ll take your word for it,” he teased. “But I’m not going to tell you what to do. I’ll just… support your decision, whatever it is. Except as we’ve said before, if you decide that you want to be with someone else, please… I don’t… I won’t, okay?”

“Well… yeah, no, I wouldn’t ask you. You’re my friend, Seb. That would be super awkward. Besides, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of guys lining up for you.”

“Yeah, you’d think with all the gay guys in Ohio that are just parading around, I’d have a choice, huh?” It was as sarcastic as he could get; they both know that Lima (and even Westerville) had slim pickings. Sebastian could pick up a guy at Scandals if he wanted to, but that never lasted, and he was getting to the point now where he was ready to settle down with someone. He’d never really been in a relationship that lasted more than three weeks. It made him nervous, spending the rest of his life with one person, but he liked the sense of security that came with that, that someone else was just as committed to you as you were to them (you hoped).

Blaine shrugged. “I dunno. You always seemed to have plenty of takers before.”

“I had takers for hookups,” Sebastian explained. “Not… relationships. It’s funny, once I graduated I kind of got over the hookups. I started getting busy with school and… thinking about my future and realized that I wanted someone with me who would be with me the whole time, through everything, you know? I want to see what that’s like.”

“I really admire that, Sebastian. I’d hoped that feeling would come your way eventually, and I want that for you. I really do.”

“Well, I wanted it for you, too. And I’m sorry you haven’t found it.”

“Yeah, me too.”

The rest of the short drive to Sebastian’s place was spent just listening to music in the background and Blaine playing some type of game on his phone, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Maybe Sebastian’s grip on the wheel was a little tighter than normal, but when they got to the apartment, Sebastian grabbed a couple of Blaine’s bags and helped him carry everything up the three flights of stairs in one trip.

“Wow, that’s definitely better than the five I had to climb,” Blaine laughed, setting down his bags by the door.

“Oh, so that’s why your ass is so nice?”

Blaine huffed out a laugh. “I… I’m not even going to respond to that, Sebastian.”

“Figured it was worth a shot,” he smirked.

Blaine slid his shoes off by the door and looked around, taking in the barely-decorated walls and minimal furniture. “So this is your place, huh?” It definitely wasn’t how he pictured Sebastian living.

“Uh… yeah. For now, anyway. I’m not trying to make anything too… permanent,” he replied with a shrug. “I don’t want to stay here forever.”

“But you don’t want to be comfortable while you’re here? You don’t want it to feel like home?”

“I… I don’t know. Why are you so scrutinizing of how I live?”

“I’m not! I just… thought you’d have a bigger couch and fancy pictures all over the walls. I know how much you loved laying all over the Warbler couch.”

Sebastian smiled at the memory. “Yeah, it… reminded me of my parents’ house. Maybe that’s why I don’t want something similar.”

Blaine flopped down on the couch and patted the space next to him for Sebastian to sit. It was more comfortable than it looked, he’d give Sebastian that. But he wasn’t really looking forward to sleeping here, if he had to be honest. “I never really met your parents.”

Sebastian sat down next to him, pulling a pillow onto his lap. “They were never home, really. My dad was always on a business trip somewhere and my mom had all her things with her friends planned. None of them included me. I was pretty much raised by my nanny.” It was such a nonchalant thing at this point that he said it like it was nothing, but he felt Blaine’s eyes boring into him. “My dad’s the one that pushed me to go to law school like he did, but I know I never... especially if I have kids… never want to be away from my family as much as he was. I really didn’t even get to know him until I was in high school, and even then, we didn’t spend a ton of time together. I guess I just wanted my own space to be mine, you know? Not a reflection of my parents’ house or who they raised me to be. And I’m not really here too much anymore. I don’t know.. I haven’t really thought about it.”

“I’m sorry,” Blaine admitted sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to, like, bring up bad memories or anything.”

“Oh, I know. I’m sorry for rambling,” he chuckled. “I guess I didn’t realize how little I get to talk to people since I live on my own. I didn’t expect a therapy session.”

“I like it. I like this side of you,” Blaine mused.

“The sad side?”

“The honest side.” Blaine patted Sebastian’s knee softly and suddenly, the burning desire for Blaine was instead intertwined with something he wasn’t used to feeling. Was it… God, he didn’t want to say it. It wasn’t that, he knew. It wasn’t love, but… it was more than lust. 

He wanted Blaine happy if it was the last thing he could do. Even if it meant that wasn’t with him. He swallowed hard. “Do you, um… want dinner or something? I was planning on just making some chicken and asparagus, but I can make something else if you want or we can order something…”

“That sounds amazing,” Blaine promised. “I didn’t know you could cook.” The way he said that sparked something in Sebastian, but he wasn’t sure exactly which part of his body was reacting. He really needed to get over himself if Blaine was going to be living here. He was an adult. He could handle his emotions.

“I guess there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me then,” he said with a wink as he got up to start prepping everything.

Blaine offered multiple times to help, but Sebastian insisted that he was okay, instructing Blaine to “just stand there and look pretty,” which always made Blaine laugh. Sebastian had a feeling he hadn’t smiled that much in a while, so it was nice to see Blaine forgetting about everything, even if only for a couple hours. He also insisted on paying some music to “get them in the mood,” and Sebastian almost choked on his own spit before realizing that Blaine meant Christmas music, to which Sebastian almost lectured him for his choice of phrasing. But this was a side of Blaine that Sebastian hadn’t gotten to see, either, and while it was new and might take some getting used to, he didn’t mind. Blaine was happy.

They ate dinner in near silence, with the music playing in the background. He noticed Blaine’s eyes darting around the apartment, and finally, Sebastian just put his fork down. “Okay, what?”

“What do you mean?” Blaine asked, obviously trying to pretend he hadn’t just got caught.

“You keep looking around like… like, I don’t know, you’re scrutinizing my walls or something. I told you why I don’t have a lot.”

“I know, I know, but… it’s so… I mean, there’s nothing that screams that it’s almost Christmas.”

Sebastian just sighed. “Look… I don’t know what you expected, Blaine. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet. Was I supposed to start in September?”

“No,” Blaine laughed. “I just… we always had holiday decorations up and… and Kurt’s parents are the same way. I just never really thought about people who didn’t decorate, you know?”

“You’re something else, Blaine Anderson.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“I think it will be,” Sebastian said softly before returning back to his dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back!! I've caught up to where I stopped writing, so the next ones might come slower, but as I said before, I'll do my best to have one up every week!
> 
> Enjoy!

Blaine did not sleep well that night. The couch was about as comfortable as it looked - fine for sitting, but it was clear Sebastian didn’t have many visitors, at least not visitors that were somewhere besides his bed. No, Blaine didn’t want to think about that. Sebastian had had a change of heart about that, and it was clear by the way he talked about things. He wanted a family, and that was something Blaine never thought he’d hear coming from that man’s mouth. It made Blaine worry for him a little bit, that he’d end up like Blaine - a failed engagement because he tried too hard to have the perfect relationship. In some ways, one night stands were easier. Less messy. Less to risk if things went wrong. But that sense of security was something Blaine craved. Something he needed that his own parents apparently couldn’t provide him. But it was too late (or was it early?) to start a self-psychological evaluation on his childhood. 

On a lack of sleep, Blaine decided that it would be a good idea to make breakfast for Sebastian. He’d mentioned that he didn’t have class until later in the afternoon, so he didn’t have to rush out the door. He’d have to get some kind of a schedule from him - he couldn’t keep track. It didn’t help that he didn’t know where anything was, and Sebastian had a way of organizing things that was the exact opposite of how he would, but maybe that worked for him. He managed to find some boxed pancake mix that only needed water - perfect. He had to do a quick Google search on how to use a French press, but eventually, coffee was being made and pancakes and eggs were sizzling away on the stove. It wasn’t the healthiest breakfast, but he hoped that Sebastian would appreciate the effort, especially since he’d made dinner the night before.

Sebastian walked into the kitchen pretty much fully dressed, which Blaine figured was solely because he was there. The expression on his face was a mix between confusion, shock, and gratitude.

Before Sebastian could say anything, Blaine’s voice rushed out. “I just figured that since you made dinner last night, I could make breakfast this morning… I… I’m sorry it’s not the best, but I just-”

“It’s great, Blaine,” Sebastian interrupted, moving to wrap an arm around Blaine’s waist in a side hug to not get in his way. “Thank you. No one’s made be breakfast in a long time.”

Blaine beamed, happy to be helpful. “Well, you deserve it. You’re letting me stay here for as long as I want rent-free, so…”

“We never agreed on that,” Sebastian laughed.

“But you would if I asked.”

Sebastian just smirked. Blaine was absolutely right. “It’s not fair of you to take advantage of my friendship, you know.” 

Blaine opened his mouth, but closed it, just smiling. This wasn’t flirting, was it? It definitely could be. Though Blaine was the one who’d started it; he might as well push a little bit. Maybe it was dangerous, but there was no rule that said he couldn’t have a good time flirting back. “You’ve wanted to live with me for years, Seb. Don’t even try to deny that you don’t want to spend all of your free time with me.”

“As appealing as that is, I do have work and school every once in a while that I have to go to. But otherwise…” His voice trailed off as he leaned against the counter.

“Otherwise…?” Blaine prompted, sliding the pancakes off the griddle and onto a plate before starting the next few.

“Otherwise I’d love to spend every waking moment with you.”

Blaine stilled, but he tried not to let Sebastian see. Something had changed. Had he pushed too far? He could feel Sebastian’s stare boring into him, but was afraid what he’d see if he made eye contact.

Sebastian could see that he’d made Blaine uncomfortable and his heart sank a little. He thought for sure that Blaine would keep playing along. Or maybe he’d said too much. Of course he did - Blaine had just gotten out of a multi-year committed relationship that had resulted in an engagement for God’s sake. And he’d said multiple times that he didn’t want to be Blaine’s rebound, which, if he was being honest, he had to convince himself of every time he even looked at Blaine, especially doing something as domestic as making him pancakes. He gripped the counter to ground himself before moving to pour them each a mug of coffee. “How do you want your coffee?” he asked in an attempt to break the potential awkwardness the morning had sprouted.

“I saw some creamer in the fridge. The vanilla? Can I use that?”

“Of course,” Sebastian replied. “I do try to keep mostly healthy stuff here, but fake dairy sugary creamer is my weakness.”

“You get something as fancy as a French press and then pour Kroger brand creamer into your coffee?” he laughed.

Sebastian just shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a guy full of strange contradictions.” He thought he heard Blaine mumble something under his breath, but he didn’t press for an answer as he pulled the creamer out of the fridge and handed it to Blaine.

“Any big plans for the day?” Blaine asked as he poured and mixed, tasted, then poured a little more.

“I have class this afternoon and a test tonight, but other than that, just mostly studying. I’m not much fun, I know.”

“No, that’s okay! I mean, I figured you’d be busy,” Blaine replied with a shrug. “I might go job hunting or something while you’re out.”

“Good for you,” Sebastian said proudly as he grabbed his own mug and a plate of pancakes before taking a seat down at the table, which Blaine was quick to follow. “I think I’ve seen a couple hiring signs on some of the smaller coffee shops. If not, retail’s always hiring for the season.”

Blaine groaned. “I’ve never been good at seasonal retail. I’m either too happy for people or I talk too much or give too many discounts,” he chuckled with a shrug.

“Why does that not surprise me in the least?”

“Look, when people tell me that they’re buying a suit for their husband for his funeral, what am I supposed to say? ‘Sorry, ma’am, you’ll have to pay $200 on top of all the funeral costs.’ Twenty percent never hurt anybody.”

Sebastian’s face was blank, and Blaine couldn’t read his expression. It was almost compassionate with a tinge of... respect? Admiration? Blaine couldn’t tell, but he liked it. Sebastian finally broke and smiled, shaking his head. “That’s… so you. But don’t feel like you have to get something right away, okay?”

“Because I can stay here as long as I want rent-free, right?” Blaine answered with a grin.

“No, because you just got here. And I don’t want you to feel like you’ve got to pay me back for all this. That’s what friends do.”

Friends. Blaine had never really considered them friends, but now they were hanging out and living together for the time being as if they’d been best friends for years. That had to mean something, right? That he was meant to be there? He shook it off. No, he wasn’t going to get into all of that right now. He’d just gotten out of a relationship with someone; he didn’t need to be thinking about starting anything with Sebastian.

“Thank you, Sebastian,” he said earnestly. “Really. This… you’ve been a lifesaver since you’ve been here. Mostly because you’ve put up with me.”

“You literally just got here, Killer. I haven’t put up with anything yet. Except you dissing my amount of wall decor.”

“And now we’ve come full circle. Really, though, Seb. Please let me decorate a little bit while I’m here. I’ll pay for stuff and everything.”

Sebastian ran a hand through his hair, looking over at the walls. “I… I don’t know…” But he couldn’t say no to Blaine’s pleading eyes. “Okay, fine. But if you want to do it, you’re doing all the work. Even if you’re too short. I’m not getting you a ladder.”

“How am I supposed to put a star on top of a Christmas tree if you won’t even let me stand on anything to get up there?” Blaine whined. “Totally unfair.”

“You can stand on a chair,” Sebastian suggested matter-of-factly as he began making his plate while Blaine finished up cooking. He got a little of everything before grabbing the butter out of the fridge and slathering some onto his pancakes.

“Really? Stand on a chair? That doesn’t sound safe,” argued Blaine as he did the same. Once their plates and coffee were across from each other at the table, they sat down.

“If you think about it, it’s probably safer than a ladder.” Sebastian cut a piece of pancake and stuffed it into his mouth. “Lower center of gravity.”

“I already have a lower center of gravity than you do!”

“So it should be perfect.”

Blaine playfully glared at Sebastian over the rim of his coffee mug. He felt this way around Sebastian quite often, he’d quickly found: void of anything witty to say in response to the jabs he received. Maybe it was because he wasn’t used to it and it didn’t come naturally, or maybe Sebastian had grown up with family and friends or someone else who taught him how to have a snarky response to every situation. But he found it annoying and also endearing. It was different than anything he was used to, and as he was finding, that seemed to be a good thing. He needed a change of scenery.

“Okay, well… at least come with me to pick stuff out. I’ll buy it, but it’s your home, so I want you to make the final decision,” he begged. “I don’t want to get anything you’re just going to throw away.”

“How do you know I won’t throw all of it away?”

“There’s a Christmas record on the record player that was already here, so I know you’ve got some Christmas spirit down in there somewhere in that Grinch heart of yours.” He rested his chin in his hand and looked across the table at Sebastian.

“Come on, Killer.” Sebastian took another sip of his coffee and shook his head, but a smile seemed to peek through. “Everyone has Christmas music.”

“Not if they hate Christmas.”

“What?” Sebastian laughed as he began to dig into his breakfast. “I never said I hate Christmas. I love Christmas.”

“Could have fooled me,” Blaine teased. He started to eat as well, and there was silence for a few minutes. When he wasn’t looking, Sebastian watched him carefully.

It had been a long time since Sebastian had had someone else eating breakfast across from him at this table. His seat faced out one of the windows, so he usually watched the city wake up as he did, but now, Blaine was taking up his view, and he found that he didn’t mind at all. It made a wonderful backdrop for him. The only other thing would probably be his mother’s garden in Paris. That was his favorite place in the world, and it kind of scared him a little how easily he pictured them there.

“Fine,” he heard himself say before he’d even realized it.

Blaine looked up excitedly. “Really?!”

“After I have my class today, I’ll go shopping with you and we’ll get some decorations. Some,” he repeated before Blaine got carried away in his head. Nonetheless, he squealed softly before clearing his throat to control himself and nodding, but his smile never went away. “You’ll have fun, I promise.”

“I better, or I’m never letting you rope me into anything ever again.”

“Yeah right,” Blaine laughed as he finished off his eggs.

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“But you missed it, didn’t you?”

“I definitely did.”

Sebastian helped Blaine clean up when they were done, and Sebastian quickly checked his phone. “I’m gonna hop in the shower and then you can use it when I’m done if you want. I still have a couple hours before class, but it takes a little bit to get there, so… you know…”

“No, that’s totally okay. You go ahead. There’s not a lot to finish up here, so don’t worry about it. I’ll get the rest. I can go see who's hiring while you're in class, and I'll to know the area.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Sebastian grinned over the small squeak of the dishwasher closing. “So you can get to work on that payback you promised.” “That was never discussed, so no comment.”

Sebastian grinned. “But we will. Eventually. Once I get my bill, then we’ll discuss payment. But you sure you got this?”

Blaine looked over the rest of the dishes - it was only a couple pans that needed to be washed. Everything else was pretty much cleaned up. “I’m sure,” he smiled. “Go shower. I’ll try not to think about you being naked in the next room.” His eyes widened a little bit as he looked up at Sebastian. Where had that even come from?

“I hope you do,” he teased back before going into the bedroom.

When it was Blaine’s turn to shower, he discovered quickly that he couldn’t make good on his promise. Even as he stripped down to his underwear in the small bathroom, he could feel the steam leftover and smell the body wash Sebastian used. It smelled exactly like he did at the airport. He took a deep, nervous breath. For some reason, he felt like Sebastian could see him through the walls. He knew that was stupid, of course, but the feeling of naked Sebastian lingered in the small bathroom, which wasn’t something he needed to think about. They were just friends, after all. Maybe he was just a little desperate. And it wasn’t like they could deny their chemistry. It was refreshing, but he found himself taking one of the fastest showers he ever remembered taking and getting out, drying off, and changing before going back out into the living room, where Sebastian was sitting on the couch on his phone.

And suddenly, he was ready for the other man to go to class so he could have some time away from him.


End file.
